Author: Sneezler

Once again it’s time for hockey pool fans to make their annual fantasy hockey draft preparations…

Given potential injuries to the game’s top player, who would you take if you get the #1 overall pick? Is an east-coast free agent acquisition this year’s #1 goalie? Can the 2011 playoff’s defensive scoring machine from San Jose keep up that pace over 82 games?

While no one can make a perfect hockey draft list, Sneezl will once again give it a try…

Fantasy Hockey’s 2011-2012 Top Goalie Picks

1. Marc-Andre Fleury
2. Roberto Luongo
3. Tomas Vokoun
4. Ilya Bryzgalov
5. Ryan Miller
6. Carey Price
7. Jimmy Howard
8. Jonas Hiller
9. Henrik Lundqvist
10. Corey Crawford

Other than Vancouver Canucks #1 Luongo, there is uncertainty up and down this list.  Will injuries hurt the Pens’ goal support?  Will Vokoun & the Caps fulfill expectations?  Will the Sabres match the play of their A+ goaltender?  And, of course, how many games will Tim Thomas play, or can he even get close to last year’s acrobatics?

Gone are the days of automatically picking Brodeur, Kiprusoff (still a great player, but the Flames may not win much this year…), or whoever dresses for the Red Wings!

Top 10 Fantasy Scoring Defensemen

1. Kris Letang
2. Lubomir Visnovsky
3. Mike Green
4. Alex Goligoski
5. Dan Boyle
6. Drew Doughty
7. Keith Yandle
8. Ryan Whitney
9. P.K. Subban
10. Christian Ehrhoff

Question marks also surround the #1 pivot, since Washington’s Mike Green could realistically produce 90 points or just 25. Oiler Ryan Whitney could rebound with a healthy season and improved forwards, also conceivably averaging an assist per game if all goes well. 

Real questions surrounding Markov, Gonchar, Streit, and Wisniewski will keep poolies guessing this year.  Don’t be surprised if John Carlson emerges as a premier blueline point producer this year either.

2011-12 Overall Top Fantasy Hockey Picks – Forwards

1. Sidney Crosby
2. Steven Stamkos
3. Corey Perry
4. Alex Ovechkin
5. Henrik Sedin
6. Daniel Sedin
7. Joe Thornton
8. Nicklas Backstrom
9. Ryan Getzlaff
10. Evgeni Malkin

Assuming Crosby picks up where he left off before injury (a big assumption, but why not be optimistic?), this is an automatic first overall choice.  But what about potential lingering injuries??

Corey Perry was red hot down the stretch last season, while Steve Stamkos started the year on fire.  If either of these players can sustain the heat through 82 games, they’re a safe alternative to the Crosby lottery.

Similarly, depending on whether the Caps of ’09 or ’10 show up, Ovi & Nic are either superb or so-so picks. It could go either way.

Pick a Sedin and you’re likely still going to get a top 5 scorer, regardless of what else happens in the league.

In short, this year’s top picks all come with a set of pro’s and and con’s.

2011’s Top Enforcers

1. Zenon Konopka
2. Theo Peckham
3. Jared Boll
4. Steve Ott
5. Cody McLeod
6. Sean Avery
7. Steve Downie
8. George Parros
9. Scott Hartnell
10. Derek Dorsett

Konopka is a near lock for the #1 PIM (penalties in minutes) ranking this year.  He was last year’s champ by a mile (307 PIM with 25 majors), plus is now a member of the rebuilding Ottawa Senators, who will be dressing young players and likely losing a lot of games. 

Ben Eager and Darcy Hordichuk will  be interesting to watch in Edmonton too with the loss of Stortini and heavyweight MacIntyre. Neither is a traditional 200 PIM guy, but someone on that team is going to rack up PIMs and these are both candidates.

2011-2012’s Top Rookie Prospects

1. Brayden Schenn, F
2. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, F
3. Nino Niederreiter, F
4. Ryan Johansen, F
5. Ryan Ellis, D
6. Gabriel Landeskog, F
7. Erik Gudbrandson, D
8. Jonathon Blum, D
9. David Rundblad, D
10. Eric Tangradi, F

Schenn is as close to a sure thing as a rookie ever is.  He’s not 18, is a scoring machine, and will play with top wingers in Philly.  Ryan Ellis is defensive scoring machine and also certain to quarterback the powerplay for years.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins may not even make the team this year, so that’s a gamble if we’ve ever seen one.

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Remember – pools are for fun, not gambling! Don’t be dumb!

Rumours of a conversation between NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Kitchener-Waterloo businessman Jim Balsillie just got interesting again.

According to reports, an NHL franchise in southern Ontario is an option for Balsillie if he plays according to NHL rules and doesn’t turn things into a media circus before a purchase and franchise move is made.

More realistically, the NHL is looking at its dead-end loser USA franchises like Phoenix (an almost guaranteed loss of $25 million for Arizona tax payers) and comparing them to Canadian markets like Winnipeg (which sold out season tickets before you can say, “Hockey is Canada’s game”) and thinking, “we’re going to be moving more franchises north before we know it, so we’d better start finding places for them to go, NOW.”

In the past, Balsillie has tried to get a team according to his rules.  The NHL didn’t like that, so blocked the attempts.  But times change.

Now that the NHL has less and less choice, they will be returning to their prime Canadian buyers and seeing what the options are.  A 2nd NHL franchise in southwestern Ontario is a big part of this, as is Balsillie.  It’s either move a franchise to southwestern Ontario or let a team lose millions in the desert.

Advantage Balsillie.

The only question marks around Balsillie getting a team in southwestern Ontario now are:

1. Does Jim still want in?
2. How large is the Toronto “home market” zone?  20 miles?  30? 50?  Is Oakville too close?  How about Hamilton?  Even better, how about Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge/Guelph/London just off the 401/8 intersection, or just off the train tracks in Kitchener near King if you believe in the public transit craze hitting Ontario?
3. How soon will the deal go down?

Regardless of how these three questions play out, the larger picture is clear: several US franchises are failing, Canadians are ravenously buying season tickets faster than they’re made available, and at some point the NHL will catch up with simple fact that 2-3 US franchises need to move to Canada if the NHL’s best interests are to be served.

The release of the recent rumour that Bettman has had conversations with Balsillie certainly does not give anyone a roadmap to the future, but it does corroborate the theory that hockey is moving back to Canada over the next few years one way or another.

If the NHL’s wishes come true, Balsillie will still be a willing buyer by the time the NHL figures out that hockey belongs in Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge/Guelph/London.

Now that the NHL is back in Winnipeg, trade rumors will be flying around Winnipeg like never before. Many fans expect a flurry of player movements over the next few months.

Here is a list of potential moves straight from Sneezl that the Winnipeg team could consider:

• Center Nik Antropov to Ottawa for a 2nd round draft pick – At 31 Antropov is a known steady 2nd or 3rd line center. Ottawa is rebuilding and could use Antropov’s help. If Ottawa isn’t interested, this same deal could be completed with almost any other team too, possibly for a lower pick and a prospect.
• Defense Dustin Byfuglien to Pittsburgh for Jordan Staal – This would give Pittsburgh flexibility at wing and defense, unloading a piece of their logjam at center. This would give Winnipeg a perfect #1 or #2 center for a decade, including a player who grew up just down the road from the ‘peg.
• UFA rights of Radek Dvorak to San Jose for UFA rights of Ian White – Both new teams could try to sign a deal before July 1st for players who score 25-35 points per season. Ian White hails from Steinbach, Manitoba, which would make him an immediate hometown favorite.
• LW Evander Kane and Goalie Ondrej Pavelec to Chicago for Jonathan Toews, Nik Hjalmarsson and a draft pick – Getting Winnipeg boy Jonathan Toews into a Winnipeg jersey would be worth almost any price, including the two young Atlanta/Winnipeg players in this deal. From Chicago’s perspective, wouldn’t it be great to market “Kane + Kane”?

Whatever this team ends up being called, today is a good day to chant “Go Jets Go!”

Say what you will about the NHL having franchises in the Southern USA and how those teams are doomed to perpetual mediocrity, fine.

One thing that no-one can criticize is the way that two Ontario boys performed for their San Jose team in this year’s playoffs.  They carried their team as far as any two players can carry a bag of pucks, but eventually their team lost to a Vancouver bunch that simply wanted to win the series more.

By the time the Sharks were eliminated in the Conference final, Dan Boyle led all defensemen in points in these playoffs by a mile.  With 16 points in 18 games, the next closest defenseman for any team has only 11 points.  Aside from the points, he was a constant presence and everything you’d hope for in a #1 blueliner.

Jumbo Joe Thornton led all Sharks in points with 17, played through injuries, and generally carried the team.  Could he win a series all by himself?  No.  But since hockey is team game, that is not surprising.  Regardless, blame for San Jose’s loss can’t be pinned on their #1 pivot.

Other Canadians like Ryan Clowe from NFLD and rookie Logan Couture from Guelph also did a great job for their team.  Cheers for these Canadians who gave their all for their team, even though their team happens to be far from Canadian soil.

Imagine if these four were playing on a team North of 49…

Oilers fans concerned over the size of potential #1 2011 draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (RNH) should put things into perspective.

RNH would be drafted to be a top scorer, not a fighter, plumber, or goaltender.  Yes, he would need to be defensively responsible to get ice time, be a good teammate, yada yada yada, but his main function would be to score.  If RNH were being drafted to be an enforcer, a shutdown defenseman, or a mechanic for the team bus, the size requirements might be different.  He might need to be huge and heavy. But as a #1 pick center, his function would be to score and size would only be a secondary issue.

But just for fun, how big are the NHL’s current top scorers?  Wouldn’t that be the best way to answer the question about RNH’s size?  To see if concerns about his size really match up against the players currently leading the league in scoring?

Here are the NHL’s top 10 scorers from the 2010-2011 season along with their height and weight:

1. Daniel Sedin 6-1 187
2. Martin St. Louis* 5-9 177
3. Corey Perry* 6-3 206
4. Henrik Sedin 6-2 188
5. Steve Stamkos 6-1 196
6. Jarome Iginla 6-1 207
7. Alex Ovechkin 6-2 223
8. Teemu Selanne* 6-0 196
9. Henrik Zetterberg* 5-11 195
10. Brad Richards* 6-0 196

* – has won a Stanley Cup

For the record, RNH’s current size #’s are 6-1 164 as an 18 year old.  At 6-1, he is already taller than St. Louis (a Hart finalist), Selanne (proof that skill and attitude pay off over a career), Zetterberg (premier 2-way player on a premier team), and Richards (2011?s most coveted UFA).

His weight is low, yes, but he is 18 and that’s pretty normal.  If he really does have ‘the best on-ice vision since #99?, who really cares what his weight is anyway?

As an aside, Crosby is 5-11 200, Gretzky 6-0 185, and Datsyuk 5-11 194.  If these guys aren’t proof that “little guys” can really play, then who is?

Whether or not RNH earns his way into the company of the other players listed in this post is yet to be seen, but there is no doubt that size is not a barrier to it happening.

Oilers fans: if RNH ends up in the fold, you’ve got a potential top-10 scorer for years.